Entering the Shopping Mall

One day in 1994.

The weather was hot and oppressive.

Several workers were directing an excavator as it dug out the foundation.

The yellow mechanical arm plunged down, scooping up a large amount of reddish-brown soil.

The stench of diesel hung heavily over the construction site, mingling with the earthy smell of mud until it made everyone’s head feel swollen.

The excavator took another scoop.

Clang.

A dull sound came from the bucket, completely different from the noise of digging through soil.

The operator stopped and leaned out to look down.

“Hit a rock?”

One of the workers came over and peered into the pit. His expression changed immediately.

“It’s not a rock. It’s a coffin.”

The coffin was pitch-black, its lacquer still mostly intact. Half-buried in the mud, one corner had been knocked askew by the excavator.

The coffin was soon hoisted out.

The workers gathered around it, cursing their bad luck while stealing glances at the coffin.

“Why don’t we open it? There might be burial goods inside.”

“Aren’t you afraid?”

“Afraid of what? It’s broad daylight.”

A few of the bolder workers got to work. They wedged in a crowbar, and the lid popped open.

A corpse lay inside.

There was no gold or silver, no jade, nothing of value whatsoever.

But it was something else that silenced everyone.

The corpse had not decayed. Its skin was shrunken and dehydrated, but its features were still clearly visible. The fingernails were intact, and so was the hair.

It looked as though the person had died only recently.

What was strange was that the clothes were unlike anything worn in China.

No one said a word.

The foreman had the coffin moved aside and ordered the excavator to continue working.

Ten minutes later, a second coffin was dug up.

Then a third.

A fourth.

They kept digging until they had uncovered the eighth.

Eight black coffins stood in neat rows beside the construction site.

Inside each one was a perfectly preserved corpse—dehydrated and shriveled, but otherwise intact.

The foreman’s legs nearly gave out. He called the property developer.

The developer gave him only one instruction:

Burn them, then get back to work.

And so, that very afternoon, all eight coffins and the corpses inside them were burned to ashes behind the construction site.

Little did anyone know that what happened afterward would be far more terrifying than eight coffins.

—System: Ghost stories? Piece of cake.—

“Hey, Lao An, has your storytelling gotten worse?” Fang Jun began picking holes in the story before An Yuexin had even finished. “The last time you told us about that arcade, I couldn’t sleep all night. But this one about the eight coffins sounded like you were just reading from a textbook.”

An Yuexin was annoyed. “You know that’s how the story goes. If you’re so capable, you tell it.”

“Fine, I will!”

“That’s enough.” Lin Mo cut them off. “We’re here to find the arcade An Yuexin mentioned, not hold a storytelling contest.”

Fang Jun curled his lip but said nothing more.

By then, the group had already entered Litchi Grove Plaza.

As the mall’s doors opened, a wave of warm air washed over them.

Outside was the damp chill typical of winter in southern China, but the mall was pleasantly warm. The heating was turned up high.

The lobby on the first floor was spacious and nearly empty.

Fang Jun looked around and sighed. “This place is just like it used to be. Nothing but shops selling crystal bracelets and Buddhist beads.”

He wasn’t exaggerating. The most common stores in the mall sold feng shui ornaments.

The first, second, and third floors were filled with crystal shops as far as the eye could see.

Purple crystals, yellow crystals, white crystals—large and small pieces filled every display case.

Almost every shop had a crystal boulder outside its entrance, thicker than a man’s thigh and cut open halfway to reveal a glittering interior.

An Yuexin muttered, “It wasn’t completely like this before.”

Fang Jun suddenly remembered something. “I think there was a restaurant on the fifth floor. I wonder if it’s still there.”

The others were also studying the mall.

Luo Ruiyu said nothing. His eyes were fixed on Chu Miaomiao and Xie Yuling.

Ever since they had entered, Chu Miaomiao had been clutching the back of Lin Mo’s clothes. Her fingers were tightly clenched, and she was walking so close to him that she was practically pressed against his back.

Lin Mo said nothing and simply slowed his pace.

Xie Yuling, on the other hand, walked along the outer edge of the group. Her pace was steady, and her expression calm.

But Luo Ruiyu noticed that her eyes kept sweeping over the walls and floor of the mall. She wasn’t looking around like someone browsing a shopping center. It was more like she was inspecting the place.

In truth, there was nothing unusual about looking at the mall that way.

But in Xie Yuling’s eyes, the mall was nowhere near as normal as it appeared.

Black energy seeped out from every crack between the tiles. Wisps of black mist continuously emerged from the seams where the walls met the floor.

What was strange was that the black mist stopped the moment it reached the edges of those cracks, as though an invisible barrier were pressing it down and preventing it from spilling out even a single millimeter.

Tentatively, Xie Yuling reached a hand into the black mist.

She felt nothing.

It wasn’t cold or hot. It didn’t hurt or itch.

Her fingers passed through it as easily as they would through air.

She withdrew her hand without mentioning what she had seen to the others.

“Let’s go. We’ll head up first.”

Lin Mo nodded toward the elevators. “Let’s take a look at the arcade Lao An mentioned.”

The group headed toward the elevators.

After they had gone only a few steps, Xie Yuling suddenly spoke.

“Let’s take the escalator.”

As she said this, her eyes remained fixed on the elevator directly ahead.

It had a transparent glass cabin, illuminated by harsh, pale lights.

Fang Jun glanced back at her. Assuming she was afraid of elevators, he didn’t ask any questions. He simply nodded.

“Sure. We’ll go up one floor at a time and see what’s on each level.”

An Yuexin quickly agreed. “Right, right. There’s no rush. We can take our time.”

The group turned a corner and headed toward the escalator.

Lin Mo was at the very back. Before stepping onto the escalator, he casually raised his head and glanced toward the elevator.

A person stood inside the transparent cabin.

A man.

His face was unnaturally pale. He wore dark clothing and stood motionless in the very center of the elevator.

He was looking at them.

It wasn’t the kind of accidental eye contact that happened in passing. He was staring at them.

Lin Mo’s footsteps faltered.

Xie Yuling noticed him stop and followed his gaze.

But the elevator cabin was completely empty.

There was no one inside.

And yet the elevator was moving.

The floor numbers continued to change: 3, 4, 5.

No one had pressed a button, and no one was riding inside. The elevator was ascending on its own.

The doors opened, but no one entered.

Xie Yuling and Lin Mo exchanged a glance. Neither of them spoke.

“What are you two waiting for?” Fang Jun was already standing on the escalator and turned back to urge them along.

Lin Mo withdrew his gaze and stepped onto the escalator.

“Nothing. It just feels so quiet here. There are barely any people.”

“Even though the heat’s on, this place still feels creepy.”

Xie Yuling took one last look at the elevator.

The number had stopped at the fifth floor.

It did not move again.

She turned around and followed the others.

But Lin Mo knew very well that something was already waiting for them on the fifth floor.